Getting spooky

The Edna Collings Bridge is supposedly haunted by the ghost of a young girl who drowned in Little Walnut Creek. /Retrieved from https://goputnam.com/things-to-do/edna-collins-bridge/.

While we're now just getting used to the chill of the fall season which really came in this past weekend, we are also halfway into what is the "spookiest" month of the year.

We're only two weeks removed from Halloween, when little ghosts and superheroes will go door to door asking for candy. Others may get a rush out of teepeeing a house.

However, I am not interested here in the festive rituals of trick-or-treating or dressing up. Rather, I want you to help me out with doing something a little more "haunting" and different for a later edition of the Banner Graphic close to Halloween.

It is no secret to longtime residents that Putnam County and surrounding areas has some places that can get pretty spooky at night, and are so even during the daytime.

I'm talking about seeing the hellhounds which are said to roam Boone-Hutcheson Cemetery southwest of Greencastle. There is also the legend of the famous steps at 100 Steps Cemetery in Brazil, where if you count them exactly as you go up then back down again, the ghost of a former caretaker will show you exactly how you will die.

There is, of course, the infamous Edna Collings Bridge near Clinton Falls. The ghost of a girl who drowned in Little Walnut Creek below will supposedly get into your car if you turn off your lights and honk your horn three times while stopped on the bridge.

These locations have been embedded into the lore which has developed in our county and beyond. However, I am also interested in the haunted house which may be next to your own home. The O'Hair House north of Brick Chapel is an example of such a place. Surely, a home with as much history and a ghost or two can be found in town.

As such, I am looking for a place which I - and also perhaps an intrepid paranormal team - can investigate. It can be a return to a familiar locale such as Boon-Hutch or the Edna Collings Bridge. This can just as well be a visit to an unsuspecting home which may have an interesting history - as well as a good ghost story - to talk about.

Just send your suggestions or stories to me at bselvia@bannergraphic.com by next Friday. Make sure that you include information with which I can contact you. We can work out details about a visit and/or an interview then if you may be interested.

If there are any local paranormal investigation enthusiasts who might be reading this, please get in touch with me through email or here at the office if interested. If an investigation may be planned out, I want to get this going as soon as possible.

I look forward to reading your content and, maybe, seeing a ghost for myself soon.